I’m super excited to announce that my first digital product is now live and open to the public for purchase. This comes in conjunction with a blog makeover. (I’d love to hear your thoughts- good and not-so-good – around the new, responsive design). The Create Your Tribe product is a month-long email course to help new biz bloggers build a thriving community around their brand...
A Community Manager’s Guide To Meerkat (With 6 Possible Use Cases)
At first glance, I didn’t want to like this app. I have written more than a couple of times about social media shiny object syndrome. Most of the sites that make an initial splash wear off and fade into relative obscurity within a couple of months. Think Highlight, Ello, Yo and so many more. After spending a lot of time on this app over the last week (including getting sucked into an epic 7...
The Case Against Gamifying Your Online Community
When it comes to launching a new online community or driving more engagement in an existing one, the first suggestions community managers usually bring up are gamification, giveaways and contests. It has become the default, go-to answer for many. I’ve seen this approach result in all kinds of headaches and problems time and time again. It brings out the same reaction in me as when a...
The Secret To Creating A Booming Online Community
What if I told you there was a magic formula you could follow and replicate exactly to create a booming online community with crazy high levels of engagement? A formula that could help your brand new community turn into an “overnight success” with thousands upon thousands of active contributors each week. I bet you anxiously took out your moleskin, ready for me to spill the goodness...
Finding Your Sweet Spot As A Community Manager
Growing up, I was a huge basketball fan. Despite being slightly vertically challenged, I had a sweet spot on the court where I knew I could sync a jump shot regardless of pressure. I was in the zone, and knew no matter what obstacles were thrown around me I could focus and make the shot. So, what does this have to do with community management? As a community manager, I’m used to wearing a...
The Biggest Mistake You May Be Making With Your Community Moderation Strategy (And Why Facebook Will Never Have A Dislike Button)
Moderation is a big topic in the community management space. For many, it automatically conjures up images of trolls and ban buttons. However in reality, high quality moderation goes way beyond that, and is equal parts an art form, psychology and science. In a Google Hangout on Air yesterday as part of CMAD, modern community moderation was the hot topic discussed by Justin Isaf, Darren Gough...
11 Tips For Recruiting Your First 100 Members To Your Online Community
Building a community from the ground-up is hard, often lonely work. You are starting out as the only evangelist for this fledgling idea, and you have to hustle day in and day out to get those key first members. Why 100? That’s when you typically should see some more user-generated topics and comments that isn’t necessarily all seeded by you. What better way to illustrate this than...
#ProductBuild: It’s BETA time!
This course is proving to be an exercise in endurance and perseverance. I still find myself paralyzed by both the imposter syndrome and comparison trap far more often than I want to admit. It’s making writing the last few lessons and editing process much more difficult than I originally anticipated. All the thoughts are raising around my brain. Am I really experienced enough to write this...
My Theme For 2015: Vulnerability
It’s becoming an annual tradition for me to write a post in the beginning of January reflecting on the past year, and choosing a theme to live by for the year ahead. Last year’s theme was about change and resiliency. As I look back at 2014, I look back at a year that has honestly been the most rollercoaster of a year that I’ve ever had. Filled with some serious high points...
#ProductBuild: Halfway Done And Writing, Writing And More Writing
I’m writing this mere hours before the big, crystal ball drops in Times Square, and we (well to my U.S. based readers) ring in a brand, new year. So many will set out to tackle their New Year’s Resolutions bright and early tomorrow morning. While I don’t set New Year’s Resolutions (more on that in an upcoming post, I promise), I am more gung-ho than ever to get 2015...